Soviet Log 82
The Herald Cometh and We Have No Plan (Lesbionage) We picked up the action halfway through block 1 after a restful night (for some). After extricating herself from a tangle of gorgeous bodies, Katya was surprised to see that one of the party models was actually Tatyana Demyanova. We hadn't seen Tatyana since early in this campaign (prior to Operation Tomato). Belle let her know she'd seen through her disguise before patting her on the bum and wishing her a good day. It's not clear why she was at the party disguised as a fashionista model but apparently Rome is rife with spies. Has Katya finally found her people? The other model woke up a bit later and was really impressed that Katya had brought two long-time frenemies together. In hindsight, maybe Tatyana had more recently replaced the other model so it was all an act? Meanwhile, the rest of the party attempted to be useful by meeting with Dante, Alfie, Gio, and Tony to discuss the coming Herald. After much espresso and debate the following missions were decided: * Gio to rally Partisans to commit acts of minor disruption starting the day before the Herald arrives * Tony to Street-Smarts / Military Intelligence the Forum * Dante to Mystic/Occult Lore about The Ritual * Alfredo uses Spy in Competitor's company to also look into the forum. At the beginning of block one we still didn't really have any idea of what we should do to stop the Herald. We weren't even sure if the Vatican or the Forum were the right venues. So, in the hopes of gaining more useful intelligence we called Christiano about an appointment with the Magi (Katya had scored his number at the party the night before). Luckily (was there any doubt?), he was available so we headed over to his tower. It was a strange building that resisted direct attention. If we had not known it was there we may have even simply gone right by it. Inside, we met with Christiano and the Magi. First off, we scored the extra Sultan snacks that Katya had arranged before leaving Moscow (you're welcome you bunch of ingrates). Next, we shared our story about the Herald and learned what we could from the Magi. He was not interested in helping us directly for fear of sacrificing his 'resources' but he was willing to provide knowledge. * We learned that the Herald is basically a 60ft tall classic devil who spawns devils 'in his footsteps'. * He has come before and been defeated - most recently by use of high power carpet bombing-type explosives. * Herald control takes some time due to 'communication challenges' so when he first appears he will not be directly controlled by anyone for some period of time. * Our idea to divert the ritual's ley line focus to a third culturally significant site was interesting to explore but would simply end up with an uncontrollable Herald at whatever location we focused on. * Anyone at any of the six culturally significant sites could independently start their own ritual. * Human sacrifice could replace relic sacrifice. Each Gate was worth "1" for purposes of leveling the ritual. * It's likely that the Pope's palace would be used to thwart the Nazi plans in some way * It was also likely that the Nazis would stage something from one of the nexus between the Vatican and the Forum as 'bridge' for their own control over the ritual - more on that later * The Magi knows the evil bitchass nuns that cursed us - is this good or bad? He said that they are powerful but generally they archive and record without taking much of an active role in the great game, but if we succeed in getting them the papacy they will be able to exert enough enfluence to be considered a player in the game. With some time left in the block and at Roq's insistence, we next met with Mother Maria - a contact of Danikov's. She runs a boarding house for waifs who have fallen on hard times. After a few awkward moments of the Mother and us wondering why we were there she invited us in. Eventually, it came out that she had a falling out with the Vatican who she saw as corrupt. She still had some contacts but overall had become distant from it. It was useful to discover that she did know the anti-corruption Vatican public works guy (name escapes this logger at the moment) and agreed to set up a meeting, end of block 2 tomorrow. We figured that it would go better if she introduced us since we were a bunch of strangers. Before departing Eva gifted her with a sizable donation to help get the waifs clear of the city before the Herald arrives. Eva has a softspot for Urchins and waifs as she was once counted among their number. To end off the block we did some shopping for explosives, Construct upgrades, and cute shoes. Block three bogged down a bit in debate about what to do next but some of the party acted decisively. Katya and Gio had a lovely afternoon out and about investigating local cults likely to participate in the ritual. They uncovered the "Sons of Peace" that were linked to the Nazis and the southernmost culturally significant location between the Forum and Vatican. It seemed clear that they were going to be helping the Nazis in some way with their nefarious plan to control the Herald. Mei Lynn did some Arch Mage stuff. Roq did something helpful. Even Lieselotte helped out with some weapon engineering to silver up some anti-Fovalaka weapons (after a little persuasion to cut her nap short). Eva, however, complained loudly about the rest of the party being selfish and then shut herself in the van to work on her own armor. We never quite made it to block 4 so that's where we left things off. Not including block 3 or the block that the herald is due to arrive in, there are 11 blocks left, at maximum 7 of those could be project blocks. Rewards The feeling of impending doom 11 Generic Katya 3 Random and 1 Benny Eva 1 Benny Roq 1 Halfass Benny (you get -1 on the reroll) Category:Soviet